That'll be the Day

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Lloyd, a travel writer from New Brighton, about his experiences of losing his sight after a stroke. It started with what Dave was told were migraines but was in fact a blood clot on his visual cortex. In addition to losing a significant amount of his vision, Dave also had to contend with temporary Charles Bonnet Syndrome, visual hallucinations.

The visually impaired singer/song-writer, Joe Kenny from Northern Ireland, has just released his first single, Chasing a Dream.  How accessible was the recording process for Joe who's totally blind? In this podcast, I discuss this with the musician, along with many other issues.

In this podcast, I'm talking to a visually impaired man who's written a book looking back at his time attending two schools for the blind in the 1960s and 70s. Writing under the name Paul Tyrone, Arthur Turner from North Shields has just published Out of Bounds, which is an honest reflexion on his time at the Royal Victoria School for the Blind in Newcastle, and Worcester College for the Blind. No...

Could we ever replace guide dogs with a robotic alternative? Zhongyu Li, a PhD researcher at the University of California, Berkeley,  thinks it might just be possible In this podcast, Zhongyu tells me about his research. I also speak to Donna Waring from Salford, in Greater Manchester. Donna is an experienced guide dog user and has trained her own guide dogs.

In 2014, a visually impaired woman set up a Facebook Group to provide information, advice and support to blind and partially sighted people. Since then, VI Talk has gone from strength to strength. In addition to general issues related to visual impairment, group members discuss other issues including sport, music and cooking. In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Jo Fishwick who, with a couple of o...

The Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (OAB) has just appointed a visually impaired CEO. In this podcast, Mark Upton talks to Tom Walker about his early memories in school and work. Mark also discusses his plans for OAB and shares his views on the wider visual impairment sector.

Whenever I talk to Visually Impaired people about the subject of work, it’s invariably a tale of woe. It’s estimated that 75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are on the dole … A shocking statistic! You do however occasionally come across some positive stories, in which Visually Impaired People have been treated fairly and received all the support they need. Mark and Kerry Fiel...

Tom Walker speaks to Lucy Edwards, the visually impaired BBC reporter and star of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and ClubHouse, about her success on social media, working in television and presenting a live show on BBC Radio 1.

Visually impaired performer, Mandy Redvers-Rowe stars in Measuring Up at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre on October 10,2019. This podcast looks at the trials and tribulations of trying to make it as a writer. 

Tom Walker talks to Brian Switzer, a visually impaired Assistive Technology Instructor at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown Massachusetts, about preparing blind and partially sighted students for the world of work and the challenges they face when trying to find employment.

Devotees of Coronation Street will no doubt know that the character, Johnny Connor, is experiencing hallucinations caused by the little-known eye condition, Charles Bonnet Syndrome. In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Judith Potts   from Esme's Umbrella and Nina Chesworth about their work with the Coronation Street script-writers to understand the eye condition. Judith's organisation su...

Finding a job isn't easy for anyone right now, but for visually impaired people, it's even more difficult. Claire Randall from Kent, who went to blind school in South Africa, tells Tom Walker about the challenges she's facing in finding employment.

A visually impaired man from Birmingham sets out his concerns that the Guide Dogs charity has lost its focus. Paul Gough Hopkins is concerned the charity is concentrating on other services rather than providing guide dogs to blind people. Pete Osborne, the charity's director of operations, responds to Paul's concerns.